Phones Xiaomi Mi 4

[Rangomango]

Just announced from Xiaomi:

• 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801
• 3GB of RAM
• 16GB/64GB of internal storage
• 13MP f/1.8 main camera
• 8MP selfie camera
• LTE radio
• 802.11ac WiFi
• 3,080mAh battery
• Infrared Blaster

Uses a stainless steel metal frame

Costs about:
$320 (16GB) / $400 (64GB)

Seems like a better phone than the oneplus one since the screen is slightly smaller making it easier to hold.

Will be interesting to see what it costs to get in the US.

 

[MRU]

No info on a global release, but yeah looks nice indeed

 

[Lloydbm41]

Did the specs actually say 'selfie camera'?

 

[jamezr]

Here is a picture.....

 

[SpoonCody]

Too bad we'll never see it stateside.

Even if you import it, would it work with US carrier bands?

 

[Mechayoshi]

The only weird thing Is that they don't have app drawers by default. Why is that?

 

[spriter]

Looks good, reasonable screen size without battery wasting resolution and slim bezels.

And a company that knows how to manufacture to meet demand without a stupid invite system.

A real flagship killer

Likely my next buy.

 

[EbookReader]

Xiaomi Mi 4: $320 off-contract

http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/22/xiaomi-mi4-launch/

5-inch 1080p screen and a swappable, slightly curved plastic back cover. The internal specs are as you'd expect: 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 16GB/64GB of internal storage, 13MP f/1.8 main camera, 8MP selfie camera, LTE radio (at last), 802.11ac WiFi plus a 3,080mAh battery. As a bonus, you also get an infrared transmitter to play with the TV (which Xiaomi also sells). As usual, the Mi 4 will be very affordable: Just CN¥1,999 or about $320 for the 16GB version, and CN¥2,499 or about $400 for the 64GB version (both off-contract, of course).

Smartphone sold by year:

2012: 8 mil
2013: 19 mil
2014: 60 mil projected
2015: 100 mil projected

Soon to be the third biggest smartphone company in the world?

Not bad for a start-up that was founded 4 years ago and sold its first smartphone 3 years ago.

 

[Savor]

I'm becoming a fan of Xiaomi as of late. I got a Mi 3 last Friday but I wasn't aware it would be released in the Philippines until the day before it was going to be sold on Lazada (June 26th). For three wks, I watched video reviews and read reviews about the Mi 3. Studying it closely before I made the purchase. So far, well worth it but the jury is still out on MIUI for me. So is the camera but I will probably adjust the settings to the most ideal eventually. I originally wanted the Nexus 5 (for size) and OnePlus One before as I think I would like CM over MIUI. But for $243 with excellent specs and great battery life, why not get a "Mi for me?" And being the other two aren't avail in my country, it became a no-brainer purchase with zero buyer's remorse even after the Mi 4 announcement. Redmi Note is actually the company's best seller at 18M because of the $150 price tag for an octa-core phablet with removable battery and expandable memory. Alot of Filipinos on FB are asking for that one to be released here.

I hope Xiaomi continues to succeed. I don't see a huge jump from SD800 AB to SD801 but I really like the dimensions of the Mi 4. The Mi 3 is a bit wide and tall. The Mi 4's metal band doesn't fascinate me as I have an HTC One and gold iPhone 5s for style and already owned an iPhone 4 before which is what Xiaomi is trying to ape from Apple similar to what RIM/BlackBerry did to the Bold 9900 in 2011, Huawei did with the Ascend P6 in 2013, and Gionee did with the Elife 5.5 this year. That metal banding is already a 4-year old design being recycled for other devices. There are local branded phones that did the same thing earlier this year with their MediaTek octo-core flagships. Also the silver rear of my Mi 3 is carbonate plastic with magnesium alloy underneath. It doesn't overheat, doesn't attract fingerprints, looks more Lumia/Xperia, and is quite light even with a bigger footprint than the M7 at nearly the same weight.

I will just wait out with the Mi 5 next year and hope it gets a 64-bit / SD810 processor. If not, I would just keep the Mi 3 until it totally dies as I see no major difference from phones released within the last two years. Many phones have specs that goes beyond a typical user's needs to last 5 years minimum. Numbers just get thrown around for marketing. Mi 3 could be my last phone I buy in this decade. Texting and Wi-Fi browsing is generally the only things I do and with Wi-Fi ac becoming the standard for the next five years, it looks like I'm future proofed until 2020.

Xiaomi is my future brand if HTC continues to plummet. I even enjoy their Mi bunnies mascots and the anticipation they generate with the FB announcements. A rat race or Cyber Monday almost every week as sellouts happen under one hour online. Hopefully Hugo Barra keeps his word and promises to start releasing Mi phones to the US by next year. Mi devices are generally the Nexus devices of Asia like one prev poster mentioned. It won't dent the US market dominated by Apple, Samsung, and carriers anytime soon, but Xiaomi can give tech enthusiasts another great option to get excited about. Especially for a crowd like me with anti-Apple/Samsung sentiments and wants the most bang for my buck.

 

[ozaz]

Does anyone have any thoughts on photo quality on Xiaomi phones?

I see there is a 13 MP Sony sensor on this phone - which seems like a good thing to me, but I suppose photo quality is also largely dependent on the software side.

 

[digi999]

Leave it to the Chinese to blatantly rip off name brands. Geez. Could they be any more obvious? Even Samsung at least tries to make it look original.

 

[Dontazemebro]

Nice for the intended markets I guess. Does it even support LTE bands in the States? These Chinese brands are usually non players over here if for nothing more than people weary of getting reliable support from China.

 

[Savor]

Xiaomi needs to release these products to other territories as well -

Redmi 1s - Entry level but with specs better than Moto G and cheaper

Redmi Note - Most popular seller at 18M at $150 for an octa-core phablet

Mi Pad - $240 tablet with 2k screen, 6400 mAh battery, and Nvidia K1

Before, I thought US was getting all the fun. Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Moto X, and Moto G were all devices that I wanted but were never available for my country at that price. Heck, even the Nokia Lumia 520 gets marked up. Instead of $50 Amazon sales, it sells for $125 more retail here in Manila. Phones like Nexus 5 or Moto G get marked up via sites equivalent to Craigslist and they are second hand!

Then Xiaomi and Asus came along and changed all that.

Xiaomi Mi 3 - $243
Asus Fonepad 7 - $143
Asus Zenfone 4 - $95
Asus Zenfone 5 - $150

I'm not including the local brands here like MyPhone that sells their Agua Rio for $113 with HD screen and quad core. Asus Zenfone 4 is the cheapest equipped with 1 GB RAM. Makes me completely forget the Nokia Lumia 530 or Moto E even exist. Hopefully, the Lenovo Golden Warrior S8 comes along our shores as well for $130 although I don't like Lenovo that much as they never update and use a heavy custom skin.

Oppo is also here now but their prices are quite expensive with the N1 and Find 7a. The $100-$150 range is the sweet spot for specs from "2012" flagships or 2013 top midrangers that Chinese brands are trying to fill. The cheapest offering with good specs from a global brand is the Moto G under that $200 segment. Gionee recently had a promo event of their Elife 5.5 (so-called world's thinnest phone). Another iPhone 4 design ripoff like what Huawei did last year with the Ascend P6. And while the Elife 5.5 still looks nice, I'm not into the specs or the price. Mi 4 offers better value among the metal frame/iPhone 4-inspired phones.

Best bang for your buck flagships -
Xiaomi Mi 3 - $240
Xiaomi Mi 4 - $320
OnePlus One - $300/$350
Nexus 5 - $350/$400

OnePlus One vs Mi 4?

For $30 more for a 64 GB, I think OnePlus One offers better value over a 16 GB Mi 4 seeing they use the same SoC and I might prefer CM over the buggy MIUI 5. But the Mi 4 is more compact and the MIUI battery optimization really is great. Typical average 4-6 hr screen time from the Nexus 5 or HTC One M7 is just downright unacceptable for me nowadays as it is mandatory to charge it twice per day after 2-3 hrs of screen usage. On Mi 3, I never have to worry leaving home with 50% juice left as it tends to drain slowly unlike the M7 under 35%. I will be lucky to get 45 min to 1 hr screen on the og One during that last 20%. I can get close to 2 hrs of SOT with the Mi 3 once it hits 20%.

OnePlus just has a terrible invite system while Xiaomi's follow them on FB, participate in their weekly contests, and "flash sales" method is far superior. The accessibility is just more convenient with Xiaomi. Pete Lau of OnePlus really needs to take notes from Lei Jun of Xiaomi.

 

[aeboi]

OnePlus just has a terrible invite system while Xiaomi's follow them on FB, participate in their weekly contests, and "flash sales" method is far superior. The accessibility is just more convenient with Xiaomi. Pete Lau of OnePlus really needs to take notes from Lei Jun of Xiaomi.

The 1+ invite system was created so that there wouldn't be any periods of the phone being sold out. Instead of having backorders, invites correspond to the production output. And of course, 1+ admitted that they underestimated the demand, but then again, they're a "5 month old" start-up, and it would be easy to overshoot the demand. That's an easy way to sink a company.

 

[jamezr]

The 1+ invite system was created so that there wouldn't be any periods of the phone being sold out. Instead of having backorders, invites correspond to the production output. And of course, 1+ admitted that they underestimated the demand, but then again, they're a "5 month old" start-up, and it would be easy to overshoot the demand. That's an easy way to sink a company.

OnePlus has made a lot of mistakes.....but they are a new startup. While Xiaomi sells millions of phones...but they are not available here in the US. I am not sure the phone supports the GSM bands here as well. So while OnePlus could have done things differently.....they still have their product available...though in limited supplies.
A quick check over at XDA and I find no support for Xiaomi phones. But there is a lot of support and unlocking/flashing rom guides for the OnePlus. Plus throw in Cyanogenmod.......game changer.

 

[spriter]

OnePlus has made a lot of mistakes.....but they are a new startup. While Xiaomi sells millions of phones...but they are not available here in the US. I am not sure the phone supports the GSM bands here as well. So while OnePlus could have done things differently.....they still have their product available...though in limited supplies.
A quick check over at XDA and I find no support for Xiaomi phones. But there is a lot of support and unlocking/flashing rom guides for the OnePlus. Plus throw in Cyanogenmod.......game changer.

I think Xiaomi simply took a different approach - to fund future expansion by first creating a local cash cow. Instead of trying to conquer the international markets from day one, they established themselves in a local market that was clearly about to boom which would then allow them to expand using their experience and funds to do so.

Nabbing Hugo Barra was no small catch and I doubt he was brought in to solely push the Chinese editions. He himself said on the Mi4 launch that India was the next stop. Clearly they're adopting a more measured approach and targeting developing markets first.

Conversely, OPO (OPPO) have gone straight for the international arena and although we talk of them as a 'start-up', there's too much smoke to believe their fire isn't burning on the fuel from OPPO which is already well-established locally. Isn't Pete a former high-up from OPPO? Are OPPO not significant investors in OPO? Isn't the OPO remarkably similar in construction to the Find 7?

I'm more interested in OPO's next model - there'll be more expectation to manage and they won't be able to trot out the 'we're a baby start-up (right!) so sorry for the silly smash it marketing campaign, stupid invite system, yellow screens and terrible-returns-policy-because-we-spent-our-money-on -pre-sales-and-forgot-about-what-to-do-if-things-go-wrong'.

Mr Lau either didn't pay attention enough to the full facet of pre- and post-sales when delivering a product while VP at OPPO, or simply took a decision to cut too many corners and go with a headline price and spec sheet.

Nice if your device is problem-free but things like yellow screens and missing chargers are unacceptable, particularly after making people wait with the ill-fated invite system. They would do well to consider value is much more than just price as we're unfortunately now finding out.

 

[jamezr]

I think Xiaomi simply took a different approach - to fund future expansion by first creating a local cash cow. Instead of trying to conquer the international markets from day one, they established themselves in a local market that was clearly about to boom which would then allow them to expand using their experience and funds to do so.

Nabbing Hugo Barra was no small catch and I doubt he was brought in to solely push the Chinese editions. He himself said on the Mi4 launch that India was the next stop. Clearly they're adopting a more measured approach and targeting developing markets first.

Conversely, OPO (OPPO) have gone straight for the international arena and although we talk of them as a 'start-up', there's too much smoke to believe their fire isn't burning on the fuel from OPPO which is already well-established locally. Isn't Pete a former high-up from OPPO? Are OPPO not significant investors in OPO? Isn't the OPO remarkably similar in construction to the Find 7?

I'm more interested in OPO's next model - there'll be more expectation to manage and they won't be able to trot out the 'we're a baby start-up (right!) so sorry for the silly smash it marketing campaign, stupid invite system, yellow screens and terrible-returns-policy-because-we-spent-our-money-on -pre-sales-and-forgot-about-what-to-do-if-things-go-wrong'.

Mr Lau either didn't pay attention enough to the full facet of pre- and post-sales when delivering a product while VP at OPPO, or simply took a decision to cut too many corners and go with a headline price and spec sheet.

Nice if your device is problem-free but things like yellow screens and missing chargers are unacceptable, particularly after making people wait with the ill-fated invite system. They would do well to consider value is much more than just price as we're unfortunately now finding out.

Agreed with everything you said there!
I want to see what OPO does next too.....rumors are a tablet? When will they roll out the next phone? They can't use the new guys on the block the next time they release a product. They hopefully learned from their mistakes this time around........

 

[spriter]

So I just came back from a trip downtown and handled the Mi 4 for the first time - spending about 30 minutes with it in the store.

First impressions were it's a bit unwieldly to hold! It's a strange kind of hybrid design where it's almost exactly the angular shape of the iPhone 5 and 5s (just bigger) but then has a slight curvature to the back near the edges. I think they did this to try to mask the thickness of the device - it is noticably chunky in the hand - especially since I was also playing with the Find 7 which is much more pleasant to hold due to the slimmer edges, if not easy to operate with one hand. It feels like it gets too fat, too soon as opposed to the gentler curves on the F7 and M7.

I would say the screen size is perfect (5-inch) for my one-handed use with relatively slim bezels. If it was a millimetre or two thinner, or had a better all-round curvature akin to my M7, it would be my perfect form factor. Nit-picking but I much prefer matte black if it has to be plastic (the Find 7's carbon-like rear cover is really nice).

As to the performance, it was running MIUI and was super-slick as you'd expect with 3GB RAM, Snap 801 and the other top-line specs. No idea about the battery life but with the screen at 1080p it isn't pushing crazy numbers of pixels around and it's packing 3080mAh. The camera seemed good although I could only zoom in on images on the phone rather than eyeball them in Photoshop. Screen was nice and no notable downsides when sat next to the F7, my 5s and M7.

The biggest problem with the 16GB model is the 16GB - it's too small thesedays, especially when there's barely 12GB of usable space. The sales people tried their best to sell it to me but I wasn't tempted as this was a deal-breaker. I asked for the 64GB version and in black but it's not yet available. Had they had that model, I would have bought one there and then despite the slight chunkiness. At 2,499CNY for the 64GB model (~US$400) it's quite the bargain. Conversely, I'd see 1,999CNY (~US$350) as a waste and be consistently annoyed at having to juggle apps with the 16GB model.

It still might be the successor to my M7 but I'm still open to other 4.7-5.0-inch devices. Maybe the Z3 Compact will lose the slab-shape

 

[Sensamic]

I wish I could buy this phone.

I'm looking at the midrange market right now for my next purchase and there are several interesting options.

I don't want to pay 500€-600€ for a phone (M8, X+1, Note 4, Z2, SGS5, etc). I think those days are over for me.

Right now almost any midrange phone is better than my SGS3, so any phone I choose would be an upgrade.

I'm looking also at the Huawei Ascend P7, which costs 319€ here and is a very nice phone and with two things I really want on my next phone: IPS display and on screen buttons.

Might be my next phone because the Mi4 is impossible to get.

 

[maxwelltech]

I am very impressed by this phone. Hopefully the FDD-LTE version of this phone could support AT&T bands (the TDD version could not). If the iPhone 6 doesn't impress me then this will likely be my next phone.

 

[Savor]

Read the Xiaomi Mi 4 has a slightly weaker battery life. I don't really trust GSMArena's battery test as they put too much emphasis on standby time. They gave Mi 3 a slightly lower number than Mi 4, but the successor is quite weak in the video playback department at 7 hrs. Ash from C4ETech confirmed it is about 8 hrs vs the predecessor's 10 hrs. Still, Mi 4 hasn't been fully optimized yet.

Not a fan of Mi 4 emulating the iPhone design too much, but I would love this phone simply for the better cameras especially the front which could be one of the best selfie cams on a smartphone right now. If Xiaomi makes a Mi 5, I would like similar, comfortable ergonomics of the Mi3 with the same Mi 4 footprint. Mi 3 is very easy to clean. Similar to if HTC makes an M9, make it similarly rounded like the M8 but with the M7 design & footprint.

Personally, my interest has shifted back to the OnePlus One as of late. Bigger and longer battery life than Mi 3 & Mi 4, and very curious trying out CM. But either OnePlus or Xiaomi are generally hard to get. Consider yourselves lucky if you can get them at the same retail price. OPO 64 GB is going for $150 more than its original asking price online locally. Mi 4 probably won't drop to sub-$250 until the middle of next year like the Mi 3. And good luck if it gets released in your country trying to get one in a 2-second sellout. Xiaomi will sell their models for as long as 18 months. But both Chinese manufacturers are the market disruptors. The gamechangers sphere heading top spec flagships in a middle range price war.

 

[MRU]

Personally, my interest has shifted back to the OnePlus One as of late. Bigger and longer battery life than Mi 3 & Mi 4, and very curious trying out CM. But either OnePlus or Xiaomi are generally hard to get. Consider yourselves lucky if you can get them at the same retail price. OPO 64 GB is going for $150 more than its original asking price online locally. Mi 4 probably won't drop to sub-$250 until the middle of next year like the Mi 3. And good luck if it gets released in your country trying to get one in a 2-second sellout. Xiaomi will sell their models for as long as 18 months. But both Chinese manufacturers are the market disruptors. The gamechangers sphere heading top spec flagships in a middle range price war.

Bigger battery means nothing when OPO screw it up with 4.4.4. Most of the guys I know who bought them in our hangout group are cursing battery life daily now, with a second charge needed to see the day out....

As for selling for $150 more - here I was lucky to sell mine for a €40 loss .....

The mi4 will never be a game changer in the west unless companies like Xiaomi release it globally at same time as China, and stop delivering a poor English UI translated experience, where residual Chinese is still quite pervasive. The mi4 international version isn't available yet, and likely when it is released the majority of the west will be talking about the M9 / Galaxy S6 etc.. Meaning it will have missed it's window of opportunity.

 

[Sensamic]

I found a site that sells the Mi3, Mi4 and other chinese phones (alegrecompra), but I don't like buying phones online anymore since I would have to pay customs and then returning the phone or whatever would be a big annoyance and more trouble than just going to a physical store.

That's why I'm looking at the Huawei Ascend P7. It's available internationally, it's available on stores nearby, good enough specs, good price, etc.

I'm really liking the midrange market right now. Next year I bet we will see Huawei phones with 3GB RAM and other high end specs for a much better price than the big companies.